Toyota OEM Rubber and Hose.... expensive
 

I'm a stickler for OEM parts, but man anything related to suspension bump stops, bushings, and vacuum hoses etc are EXPENSIVE. Am I being unreasonable? Is it just the older models that are pricey? Limited stock? No longer in production?

I see value in like radiator hoses, but it's just ..idk it makes me cringe. Whenever you start replacing old worn hoses the price really starts stacking up....but I guess yes they do last.

To the people who have taken care of their 4runner since it was new, or almost new, how much life can you get out of them if you prevent them from drying out? I know they may have finite life cycles because of getting hot to cold etc over time.

Has anyone found a good alternative to OEM hoses? I am okay with bump stops and bushings but I think I draw my imaginary line in the Sand with the hoses.

Other than aftermarket, has anyone tried taking hoses off new models and putting them on their 3rd gen?

There's nothing special in the material Toyota's contractors use for their hoses (you know Toyota isn't building these themselves, like NASA, they contract with the lowest bidder who will make whatever they need to their specifications). No "secret sauce", not even any kind of tolerances in some complex system. It's a rubber tube that holds coolant. Or a rubber tube that holds a vacuum... there's ZERO special or unique about Toyota parts in this regard. The only "special" part is that formed hoses are the Exact same as what came with the vehicle, aftermarket are usually just "close enough"... which isn't always true.

Keep in mind that the standard recommendation is to replace all hoses every 4~5 years. You shouldn't Plan on going 20 years with replacements, even if most of the originals made it that long. Personally, I bought some middle-priced Silicone upper/lower rad hoses, and the only available silicone heater line kit out there. As I start to do the vacuum lines, I'll just buy a bulk roll of something.


Unless you're going for a 100% authentic Survivor show car, there's really no need to do OEM on simple pieces like this. If you're worried about quality and want some recourse if something goes wrong, then buy from one of the big national chains.

I feel the cost pain. I usually only get toyo oem rubber parts like the air intake hoses with unique shapes and seals, all else can be Gates or another 'known' brand name for me. Luck and enjoy the Runner. :cowboy:

To offer another perspective...

Rubber is not always just rubber. Over the years I have had some older vehicles including 4Runners and other imports and have rebooted CV axles on multiple occasions. Invariably when using even decent parts store brands the boots crack again in like 1-2 years. (Not talking about lifted applications here). OEM boots end up lasting much, much longer. The issue is that the non-OEMs simply use lower quality rubber.

Same thing for bushings in many cases. The rubber bushings that came with by Bilstein shocks are already heavily cracked after only a couple years of use. They are comparable to how my OEM ones looked.

It's hard to find non-OEM molded hoses for emission and ventilation systems. One thing I'd recommend is shopping at the highly discounted OEM parts suppliers, such as 4RUNNER VZN185L-GKPGK KZN185,RZN18#,VZN18# | Toyota | Genuine Parts Catalogs | PartSouq Auto Parts Around the World.

Their prices are often half that of other sources.

I saw that sight this morning. Its awesome....but that is a good question because I later realized they have OEM parts along with alternative options as well.

I love that website though. The parts diagram are awesome.

I wonder though if toyota is still producing these parts and if its just a limited demand for them so the price is higher....someone with deep pockets should buy them in bulk and do what aircabinman on ebay does for timing belt kits lol

Anywho...cheapest bidder or not, toyota has "minimum" requirements which probably are not disclosed to anyone unless your the bidder. There are a good amount of composition adjustments they can make to have a polymer bushing which then affect the fatigue limit, number of cycles of a repetitive stress etc.

guess its just a matter of rolling the dice... heck at some point in time I imagine we fend for our selfs when Toyota dumps it all. that will be a sad day.

Edit: its really hard to compete with all the research OEM manufactures put into their design. :( someone should pony up lol

Just to be clear, everything I've received from PartSouq has always been Toyota OEM, not aftermarket.

correct, but when you select the part numbers, There are "alternative" under the OEM part.

Like you can get the OEM part, or an "aftermarket" or alternative part as a secondary option.

I may be crazy...it was 5am in the morning lol but im pretty sure i saw that there.

great website none the less

In my experience, buying non-OEM parts for cost savings is false economy. The OEM parts you are replacing lasted ~20 years of hard work. The aftermarket part that you might use instead that is, say, half price will last 1/4 of the time. In the end, it is costing you MORE and you are getting a less reliable vehicle at the same time.

You already paid extra for a Toyota for the reliability, at least partially, right? A Jeep is better off road in many cases - but do you want to keep one running? Why buy parts store stuff that turns your reliable Toyota into a Jeep quality ride?

The exception here is where you can get true OEM quality parts for less. NGK spark plugs are the same as you get at the dealer and cost less, for example...

-Charlie

That could be, I've never selected the alternative part, unless it was an alternative part number still made by Toyota.

I want to correct this statement
"There's nothing special in the material Toyota's contractors use for their hoses (you know Toyota isn't building these themselves, like NASA, they contract with the lowest bidder who will make whatever they need to their specifications)"

Toyota makes their own parts: DENSO and AISIN are theirs.

OEM parts lasts 20+ or even more years as Phattyduck said. My 92 Corolla still got OEM suspension bushings and DOES not make a sound!
If something is made so good, it is expensive as it involves many factors.

We have a 1990 Hilux LN 106 and the dash has no cracks and compare that to another 30 year old truck/car's dash. Its their quality.

Try Amayama.com. I buy parts from them and cheapest I found on the net. takes some time as those come form either Japan or UAE.

Partsouq is legit. Their shipping times are faster than most state side dealers. I’ve dropped literally thousands with them over the years and it is all OEM and brand new. Don’t hesitate if you are at all worried about it being legit. Oddly shaped items will cost a bit to ship but otherwise they are always cheaper.

I recently replaced all coolant hoses with oem toyota. They lasted 19 years so I went with oem. For suspension bushings, I always go poly. But belts, vacuum hoses filters ect I just use aftermarket. As for wheel bearings either oem or koyo. Same thing with seals/gaskets oem, I've learned that aftermarket seals suck badly and I only want to do the job once. Buy once cry once.

Toyota rubber parts are really good quality.
Toyota parts, as we all know, are overpriced...grotesquely overpriced by the dealers' retail counters.
They wanted $100 for a front brake hose from the online dealers.
Amayama's prices on the 4Runner brake hoses were much more reasonable.

Another thumbs up for replacing with OEM hoses & rubber bits, especially when it comes to the cooling system.